My parents had me out of luck, my mother had a rhesus factor that clashed with mine and the doctors could not figure out how I survived the womb and was born. Over the years, they chalked it up to luck, but it never really bothered me.
I've always liked metals, ferrous metals especially. When I was five, I could define and even tell the difference between a ferrous and non-ferrous metal simply by touch. My parents were stunned, they said I was a genius and that I was a special child. The thing was, whenever I touched a ferrous metal, say iron for instance, I'd get a fierce pull accompanied by a tingling sensation which I never got from touching anything else including non-ferrous ones.
I was homeschooled all my life, so I was very antisocial and I stayed away from people. They frightened me, to be honest. My parents were really rich so they pretty much gave me everything I wanted. Dad owned a huge franchise and lots of businesses and Mum was a very successful lawyer. My life was a clear and simple routine every day, I'd wake up to find my mum and dad gone and my breakfast and lunch in separate coolers. Dad always drove Mum to the office before dropping by at his own office so I pretty much spent my days by myself. I'd microwave breakfast and eat after showering and my tutor would come over in the late mornings to teach me till in the afternoons. Then, I would microwave lunch and eat while playing loud music and playing over imaginary music videos on my headset. Then I would read and scroll through tiktoks till my parents came home in the evenings.
On weekends, they would spend the entire day with me because they felt bad about leaving me alone on all the other days. We would play games, talk and cook. It was just a little time compared to the rest of the week but I was happy with it, contented even, and one day, my contentment was shoved to my face.
One afternoon while my tutor was teaching me math, my uncle, David came to the house and walked into where I sat. Then he began to explain to me slowly, that I wouldn't see my parents anymore. He tried as much as possible to be patient with me and I knew he was trying because I knew Uncle David to be very nonchalant about everything. They died in a car accident, a trailer ran into them from behind and crushed their car, and they were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Uncle David became my legal guardian as he was the only family I had left. He moved into the house and operated Dad's businesses. A lawyer came over to recount Dad's will, which apparently he had already written down since my birth. 70% of his estate and wealth went to me, 20% to Uncle David, and the rest to charity. Mum also left me some stocks, all of which I couldn't access until I was eighteen, so my Uncle David controlled all the assets. He wasn't a kind man but he wasn't actively mean either. He was very indifferent and nonchalant towards me, he couldn't be bothered to teach me or play with me. He couldn't even drive me around during the day, so, he enrolled me in a boarding school. I was young and scared and clueless but I didn't throw a tantrum, I was too quiet for that. I sat quietly in the backseat of the Uber that took me away with my head hung low and I got down and braved my way in. The driver came after me and helped me bring my stuff to the principal's office.
"Thank you, sir" I said offering him the thousand naira note I had in my left pocket.
"No need, miss" he gave a friendly smile "Your uncle covered this in his bill"
"Oh" I said. I knew carrying my stuff wasn't part of his job but I didn't think Uncle would pay for it, but like I said, he wasn't mean, just nonchalant. I began to stuff the money back in my pocket but the Uber driver stopped me halfway.
"But if you insist" he gave me a look while holding the arm that the money was in.
I snatched my arm from his hands and gave him the money with a frown "Have it" I grunted and entered the office while he turned back towards the gate to his car. That was three years ago.
Now, I was entering my first year as a senior and I was fourteen now, it's been almost four years since my parents died and almost nothing has changed. I am still crippled by the loss and I am still very much antisocial. I mean it, I don't have a single friend. Apparently, a couple of months after I got in, people found out that I was a trust-fund kid and the heir to a whole business dynasty, and since then, they chalked up my antisocial tendencies to pride and snobbishness, and because of that, people didn't approach me and I couldn't make any friends.
I walked down the corridor alone clutching the arms of my backpack while others walked in cliques and groups. I did see a few people walking alone too and they made me feel less alone even though they weren't walking with me. Over the holidays, puberty had caught up with me and outside when I walked, people- especially boys turned to stare twice. I am five foot eight and I have what you would call a model figure, I have ebony skin and big doe eyes with toned lips. I sat in the front middle of the room and flung my backpack over my seat, it turns out that my tutor was very strict and advanced with my lessons because school was a breeze for me, either that or I was smarter than I thought. I watched other people pile into the room no one bothering to sit with me and I wondered who the teacher would make my seat-partner this time. Over the years, no one sat beside me at the beginning of any school year so the first teacher we had for the day would intervene and place someone in my seat. They didn't like it though, so they took it as a punishment and most of them made it their life's mission to punish me and make my life miserable throughout their stay there.
One such person was Ella, my seat partner last year, she was a known backbencher and leader of the clique that had the most pretty girl in it. When I first came, she hated me and as I got prettier, she tried making me her minion but I was antisocial, not insecure, so I didn't exactly fit the bill. Newsflash, she hated me even more. Our first teacher, Mrs. Vivian walked into the class just as the alarm rang out, she had taught for about seven minutes before she looked closely at my seat.
"Young lady, don't you have a partner?" She asked and some girls giggled while others sneered.
"Uhm, no ma" I said quietly.
"A frontseater without a partner?" she intoned "Well, we can't have that" she said, already looking through the room to pick the student of the year. Just then, a familiar-looking guy walked into the class.
"Josiah" the teacher peered at him "why are you here?"
"I'm taking this class ma" the boy, Josiah said in his deep tenor.
"Didn't I have you last year?" Mrs Vivian asked and a large percentage of the class chuckled.
"Well, you'll also be having me this year" Josiah sighed "I'm retaking your class" he scratched his hair, looking uncomfortable.
"You're late sha" she muttered "Come in" she said and the boy walked in and sat beside me quietly.
"Well, at least you could solve one problem" Mrs Vivian sneered and turned back to the board.
Josiah stared long and hard with a tight jaw and brought out his book.
At the end of the class, Josiah turned to me.
"Joan right? I'm Josiah" he stretched out an arm.
I shook it "Yeah" I said, not making eye contact.
"Crazy, you didn't talk to me the whole class"
"I don't like talking" I stood up holding my bag.
"Are you in a hurry to somewhere?" He asked, still hanging on to my arm.
"Yeah" I pulled my arm free and he just smiled.
"You know it's a free period, right?" He called after me but I was already out the door.
As I walked out of that vicinity, I could only wonder how he knew my name.
*****
I got back to my hostel and hung my bed on my bedstand. There were about four hostels in one dorm and each hostel had ten rooms, each room having large beds and spaces for four people. The boy's hostel was far from the girl's hostel but that didn't stop them from visiting each other. Anyway, I crashed into my bed and closed my curtains with a stretched arm. I shut my eyes for a few seconds before I took off my uniforms and folded them into my laundry basket, I would give it to the laundry woman to clean up and iron later. I thought about the day, and whether Josiah would prove to be a jerk later on, recalling how Sandra, my seat partner for my remaining classes had been very passive-aggressive towards me. I stared into space and lost myself for a few minutes, I was thinking about my parents and reliving how life used to be when they were alive. I never properly mourned them and I don't know if that's why I always feel this deep pit in my stomach whenever they come to mind. Would it always be like this? would I always feel this way?
Soon after, I showered and cleaned up to go out for prep, I left the hostel and headed to class with my prep tote bag. I had packed some snacks and a drink to occupy myself for the prep. When I got to class, I got seated at my usual seat in the front middle and flung my bag across my seat. No sooner than I sat down, I heard a familiar voice call my name.
"Hey, Joan"
I turned around to see Josiah behind my seat, twirling my bag "hi" I mumbled and faced my front again.
"Mind if I sit beside you?" He grinned "Since we are already partners and all"
"Actually, I do mind" I said as I got my snacks and a book out of my bag.
"Really, you like being a loner?"
There it was, that mocking undertone most bullies had, all my bullies had and for that reason, I became mildly mad. I turned around to face him again and he must have seen the anger on my face because his grin vanished.
"What is your problem exactly?" I asked "What part of 'yes, I do mind' don't you understand?" I felt my voice raising and I cleared my throat, not meeting his eye "I- I am sorry" I whispered.
"It's cool" he pocketed his hands in his hostel trousers, he looked embarrassed "I'm sorry too" he walked away.
Now, I felt like a jerk, but he didn't exactly catch me in the best of moods. I used prep hours to think but he came and triggered something in me and almost ruined the solitude I found during prep time. All the same, I felt bad.
Josiah Chima Okogie was a class ahead of me and while some would call him an athlete, he was also nerdy smart. I guess you could call him handsome because he was already six foot tall and he had this clear caramel skin and striking features. He had won a lot of sports and academic medals for our school, Victoria Crest college, and even won some awards for his looks which is why it made no sense that he failed further mathematics, Mrs. Vivian's class last year. No one was complaining though, because 80% of the girls in my year had a crush on him, I might not talk much but I am a good listener. Earlier, I heard some girls whispering behind the class and then I heard my name too.
"I've got my sights on Josiah, I don't know why that Joan of a rat is always around him" Ella whispered.
"Maybe, Josiah likes her" Another voice whispered.
"Impossible" Ella scoffed and I turned around, and then she cut me the sharpest glare.
The whispers continued until I plugged in my ear buds and placed my head on my desk. Forget Josiah, I don't want to be caught in whatever was going on.